Gays may face curbs on clout

June 20, 2004|By Dan Mihalopoulos, Tribune staff reporter.

CHICAGO — Gay and lesbian public officials who abuse their power to favor live-in partners should be held to the same standard as heterosexual officials who wield clout to get special treatment for a wife or husband, Chicago's first and only openly gay alderman said Friday.

At the prodding of Ald. Thomas Tunney (44th), a City Council committee amended a new ethics measure to prohibit favoritism that benefits domestic partners of gay or lesbian officials.

"With rights come responsibilities," Tunney said. "In our struggle to get equal rights, we have to assume that we accept equal responsibilities also."

Ethics reforms passed by the state last year included provisions that local governments adopt regulations governing political activities and gifts.

Cook County commissioners last month approved changes to the county's ethics ordinance that largely mirror new state mandates.

The City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on the city's revisions.

During an ethics training-course attended by council members, Tunney said, he noticed that domestic partners do not face the same restrictions as the spouses of public officials under Chicago's regulations.